Automatic volume adjusting fire hose nozzle with flushing mechanism

ABSTRACT

A fire hose nozzle having a tubular body part and a pressure responsive valve assembly shiftable in the body part. A barrel member spacedly encircles parts of the pressure responsive valve assembly and is shiftable toward and away from the valve head of the assembly for the purpose of allowing flushing of the valve.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a fire hose nozzle of the automatic volumeadjustment type.

In the fire hose nozzle described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No.3,539,112 means are provided for automatically adjusting its waterdischarge rate upon variation of water pressure so as to maintain aneffective fire fighting water stream range. It has been found thatduring use of this type nozzle, small stones and other foreign watercarried obstructions tend to lodge in the outlet of the nozzle at thehead of its shiftable valve assembly. To clear the nozzle of theseobstructions the nozzle must be turned off and partly diassembled. Thisnecessity for shutting off the water flow through the nozzle during itsfire fighting use not only reduces the extinguishing qualities of thefire fighting equipment but is also may subject the fire fighter ornozzle operator to danger from the fire by interrupting the watercurtain produced by the nozzle.

In this invention means are provided in which a nozzle of the automaticvolume adjustment type may be flushed without interrupting the nozzle'suse.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a fire hose nozzle having a valve assemblytherein which is shiftable in response to variations in liquid or waterpressure for the purpose of maintaining generally the same operativetrajectory or reach of the liquid stream for fire fighting purposes. Thefire hose nozzle construction is improved upon by incorporating means bywhich the nozzle may be flushed for the purpose of ridding pebbles andother foreign matter which is clogging the nozzle without having to turnoff the nozzle.

A barrel member which forms a part of the nozzle construction surroundsparts of the pressure responsive valve assembly of the nozzle and inconjunction with the head of the valve assembly serves to regulate thedischarge pattern of the liquid flowing through the nozzle. Means areprovided by which the barrel member can be shifted longitudinally of thenozzle so as to increase the spacing between the barrel member and headof the valve assembly while liquid is flowing through the nozzle for thepurpose of dislodging the matter which was previously wedged between thevalve assembly head and barrel member and which was obstructing flowthrough the valve.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a fire hosenozzle having means for flushing the nozzle of obstructing matterwithout shutting off liquid flow through the nozzle.

Another object of this invention is to provide a fire hose nozzle whichincludes means for automatically adjusting the discharge or volume rateof the nozzle in response to variations in liquid pressure to thenozzle, and which additionally includes means for flushing the nozzlewhile maintaining liquid flow therethrough.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a fire hose nozzlewith automatic volume adjustment which may be flushed while maintaininga protective water curtain for the operator of the nozzle.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent upon a reading ofthe invention's description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

A preferred embodiment of this invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the nozzle.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1showing the component parts of the nozzle in operative fire fightingposition.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view like FIG. 2 showing componentparts of the nozzle positioned to enable the nozzle to be flushed offlow obstructing matter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred embodiment illustrated is not intended to be exhaustive orto limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It is chosen anddescribed in order to best explain the principles of the invention andits application and practical use to thereby enable others skilled inthe art to best utilize the invention.

The valve illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 includes a tubular body part 10 whichis cylindrical in configuration and which has an "on/off" valve assembly12 connected at one end. Valve assembly 12, which is not shown indetail, may be of the handle actuated ball valve type commonly used as ashut off valve in fire nozzles. In other constructions of thisinvention, the nozzle may not have its own shut off valve. The manner inwhich fire hose 14 is connected to body part 10 and the manner in whichwater flow through the nozzle is turned on and shut off are matters ofdesign and convenience and need not constitute a part of this invention.

A water discharge valve assembly 16 is located within body part 10 andincludes a stem 18 and a head 20. A tube 22 is located coaxially withinbody part 10. A helical spring 24 surrounds tube 22 and is positionedbetween the tube and the inner surface of body part 10. One end ofspring 24 abuts a washer 26 which in turn abuts a four-flanged spider28. Spider 28 is connected to valve stem 18 and forms a part ofdischarge valve assembly 16. The opposite end of spring 24 abuts aspacer ring 30 which in turn is retained within body part 10 in contactwith tube 22 by means of a retainer ring 32. Retainer ring 32 isexternally threaded and is turned into body part 10 which has engaginginternal threads formed therein. Tube 22 is slotted at 34 to accommodatethe flanges of spider 28 with clearance as valve stem 18 and valve head20 shift longitudinally with respect to body part 10, causing thecompression of spring 24, during water flow through the nozzle.

A barrel member 36, formed by an annular side wall, has its aft end 38fitted slidably into retainer ring 32. Barrel member 36 spacedlysurrounds stem 18 of the discharge valve assembly 16 and preferably hasan inner diametrical dimension similar in size to the inner diameter oftube 22 so as to define a water flow path through the nozzle. Theforward end 40 of barrel member 36 is beveled and is positioned adjacenthead 20 of the discharge valve assembly 16. Valve stem 18 carries aspider 42 whose flanges contact the inner surface of barrel member 36and serve with spider 28 to coaxially position the valve relative to thebarrel member and tube 22.

Aft end 38 of barrel member 36 includes a stop ring 44. A helical spring46 surrounds valve assembly stem 18 and is located between shoulderedcomponents of spacer ring 30 and retainer ring 32. One end of spring 46abuts shoulder 48 of spacer ring 30 and the opposite end of the springabuts stop ring 44 of barrel member 36, causing the barrel member to beurged into a normal forward position with the stop ring contactingshoulder 50 of retainer ring 32, as seen in FIG. 2. When stop ring 44abuts shoulder 50 of retainer ring 32, the forward end 40 of barrelmember 36 spacedly surrounds valve head 20 so as to produce a desiredwater flow trajectory through the nozzle for a given amount of waterpressure. As the water flows through tube 22 and barrel member 36 andaround the valve head 20, the contact of the water with the head willcause a shifting of the head and valve stem and a resulting compressionof spring 24. Thus as the water pressure within nozzle 10 varies, sowill the spacing between valve head 20 and forward end 40 of barrelmember 36 vary. This provides a means, as described in greater detail inU.S. Pat. No. 3,539,112, for adjusting the discharge rate of the nozzlewithout substantial sacrifice of the reach or trajectory of the waterbeing emitted from the nozzle.

A sleeve 52 surrounds barrel member 36 and is threadably connected at 53to body part 10. Sleeve 52 is a common component of fire nozzles and isutilized upon rotation relative to body part 10 to vary the dischargepattern of the water flowing through the nozzle. In this invention,sleeve 52 serves the important additional purpose of shifting barrelmember 36 rearwardly when it becomes necessary to flush the nozzle. Thissleeve induced movement of barrel member 36 is effected by providing thebarrel member with an annular flange 54. As sleeve 52 is turned ontobody part 10 of the nozzle, an internal shoulder 56 of the sleeve iscaused to abut flange 54 of the barrel member with the barrel memberbeing urged rearwardly relative to discharge valve assembly 16, as shownin FIG. 4, causing compression of helical spring 46. As barrel member 36is urged rearwardly by sleeve 52, its fore end 40 is moved to arearwardly spaced position from head 20 of the valve assembly to permitobstructing matter, such as pebbles and dirt, and to be flushed from thenozzle with water flow through the nozzle being maintained in the formof a protective curtain or screen. Once the nozzle has been flushed,sleeve 52 is rotated so as to be located in its extended position,allowing spring 46 to urge barrel member 36 into its normal operatingposition, as seen in FIG. 2. O-rings 58 are provided between selectedcomponents of the nozzle to provide water sealing fixed or sliding fits.

In some constructions of this invention it may not be necessary toinclude helical spring 46 as a means to normally urge barrel member 42into its forward position with stop ring 44 engaging retainer ring 32.Water flow through the nozzle may be sufficient when contacting theinner walls of the barrel member to normally urge the member into itsforward retainer ring engaging position.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to thedetails above given but may be modified within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What I claim is:
 1. In a fire hose nozzle including a tubular body parthaving an inlet end and an outlet end, a pressure responsive valveassembly shiftable in said body part and including a valve head and avalve stem, said valve head being shiftable toward and away from saidbody part outlet in response to variations in pressure of liquidsupplied to said nozzle, the improvement comprising a barrel memberhaving fore and aft ends surrounding said valve stem, the aft end of thesaid barrel member fitting slidably within the outlet end of said bodypart, said barrel member being shiftable longitudinally relative to saidbody part between a forward position in which the barrel member fore endspacedly encircles said valve head to define a liquid flow path from thenozzle and a rearward position in which the barrel member fore end isshifted rearwardly of the valve head to increase the spacing between thebarrel member and valve head, a sleeve member encircling the fore end ofsaid body part and surrounding said barrel member, means rotatablyconnecting said sleeve member to said body part wherein rotation of thesleeve member upon the body part causes the sleeve member to shiftlongitudinally of the body part between extended and retractedpositions, said sleeve member including abutment part means forcontacting said barrel member to shift the barrel member from itsforward position into its rearward position as said sleeve member isshifted from its extended position into its retracted position.
 2. Thefire hose nozzle of claim 1 and biasing means yieldably urging saidbarrel member into its forward position.
 3. The fire hose nozzle ofclaim 2 wherein said biasing means is a helical spring encircling saidvalve stem and abutting each of said barrel member and body part.
 4. Thefire hose nozzle of claim 2 wherein said sleeve means extends beyondsaid valve head in an annular spaced relationship to define inconjunction with said valve head and barrel member a liquid flow outletfor the nozzle having variable flow pattern characteristics dependingupon the shiftable position of the sleeve member relative to the bodypart. .Iadd.
 5. The fire hose nozzle of claim 1 wherein said barrelmember includes a wall part defining reaction surface means which liquidwhen flowing through said barrel member contacts for urging said barrelmember from its said rearward position into its said forward position..Iaddend. .Iadd.
 6. In a fire hose nozzle including a tubular body parthaving an inlet end and an outlet end, a valve assembly in said bodypart and including a valve head and a valve stem, the improvementcomprising a barrel member having fore and aft ends surrounding saidvalve stem, the aft end of said barrel member fitting slidably withinthe outlet end of said body part, said barrel member being shiftablelongitudinally relative to said body part between a forward position inwhich the barrel member fore end spacedly encircles said valve head anda rearward position in which the barrel member fore end is shiftedrearwardly of the valve head to increase the spacing between the barrelmember and valve head, said barrel member including a wall part defininga liquid flow path from a location internally of said body part toadjacent said valve head, said wall part including reaction surfacemeans which liquid when flowing through said barrel member contacts forurging said barrel member from its rearward position into its forwardposition, a sleeve member encircling the fore end of said body part andsurrounding said barrel member, means rotatably connecting said sleevemember to said body part wherein rotation of the sleeve member upon thebody part causes the sleeve member to shift longitudinally of the bodypart between extended and retracted positions, said sleeve memberincluding abutment part means for contacting said barrel member to shiftthe barrel member from its forward position into its rearward positionas said sleeve member is shifted from its extended position into itsretracted position. .Iaddend. .Iadd.
 7. The fire hose nozzle of claim 6and biasing means yieldably urging said barrel member into its forwardposition. .Iaddend. .Iadd.
 8. The fire hose nozzle of claim 7 whereinsaid biasing means is a helical spring encircling said valve stem andabutting each of said barrel member and body part. .Iaddend..Iadd. 9.The fire hose nozzle of claim 7 wherein said sleeve means extends beyondsaid valve head in an annular spaced relationship to define inconjunction with said valve head and barrel member a liquid flow outletfor the nozzle having variable flow pattern characteristics dependingupon the shiftable position of the sleeve member relative to the bodypart. .Iaddend.